July 5 marks the 50th anniversary of Algeria's independence from France — the latter had ruled the former as a colony since 1830. The bitter, eight-year-long war that paved the way for Algerian freedom is immortalized in literature and film and its legacy looms large: an archetypal anticolonial struggle saw the strategic use of terrorist tactics as well as a brutal counter-insurgency campaign. The regime that came into power after France's departure converted its revolutionary zeal into authoritarian control. TIME looks at pictures from the war for Algerian independence.

Algerians in Algiers celebrate on July 5, 1962 following their fledgling nation's proclamation of independence. The North African country had been a colony of France for well over a century, but severed its bonds in a bitter and bloody eight-year-long revolutionary war, which, according to some accounts, claimed over a million lives.

July 5 marks the 50th anniversary of Algeria’s independence from France — the latter had ruled the former as a colony since 1830. The bitter, eight-year-long war that paved the way for Algerian freedom is immortalized in literature and film and its legacy looms large: an archetypal anticolonial struggle saw the strategic use of terrorist tactics as well as a brutal counter-insurgency campaign. The regime that came into power after France’s departure converted its revolutionary zeal into authoritarian control. TIME looks at pictures from the war for Algerian independence.